Gardening Thread - Show me your gardens!

It is a long term thing for me, and i like to do woodworking so it was some enjoyment in building it for me as well.

 

I like this. cheaper than the cages...

 

I like woodworking too.
However, I hate finding places to store things, haha!

Stronger too (than the ones you can by at the store; I'm sure Krap's is stronger than twine). I started trellising mine because two years in a row I had a heavy rain/wind storm in August that flattened all my plants that were store-bought cages.

 

I'm just going to store then in the garden.

 

Anyone have experience growing green beans and peas?

My leaves look funny. Any advice?

This is my first year gardening.

 

Yellowing leaves are usually a sign of over watering. The water leaches nutrients from the soil.

The brown patches look like a disease or pest:
http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=1199

 

Cool thread! I will take pictures of ours when I get home. So far this year we have tilled and spread some top soil. We had to build a fence to keep the dogs out, because last year they had zero regard for our plants. Still much too cold to plant. Were hoping about the middle of this month we can put something in the ground. We do have some strawberries coming back already. We usually grow strawberries, wild onions, red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and radishes. We tried some beans and peppers last year, but those didnt work out. Our season here is super short, and the soil at my house is very clay-ish. So it is some serious work. For flowers we just have those wine barrell deals. My favorite plant on the property is my little sage brush I transplanted from a ways behind the house to right up front and he is doing pretty good. I really like sage brush.

 

X2. Cut back on the amount of water you're giving that bed for the next couple weeks and see if they start darkening back up. If not, you may need to amend your soil this fall with some extra compost and manure to boost the nutrient content.

On an unrelated note, picked up this year's 'crop' of meat chickens this morning from the local Farmer's Union.
15 Red Rangers.


It's difficult to comprehend that these 1 oz peepers will average a pound of weight gain a week for the next three months.
The ones we raised last year had live weights of 11-14 lbs by the time they went in the freezer at 13 weeks, with one exceptional roo who was pushing 16lbs.

 

Experimental strawberry pyramid. The book said that the dirt won't flow downward under the boards even though they don't line up; We'll see.
If it does, I'll empty the dirt out this fall and rebuild it for next season.

 

You could always grow simple stuff in buckets or on raised table/beds. Peas and beans don't care too much, as long as you keep them watered.
The tabletop units are great for where there's limited space, and they're easier to weed, haha!

http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/t7914-table-top-gardens

Awesome! We've only had our chickens for about a year, so none of the shavings/manure have decomposed enough for me to be comfortable adding them to the garden, but they should be ready by next spring.
You don't need a huge garden to enjoy doing it. When we were in an apartment we had a little patch out front that was probably only two feet by six feet, but we still got peas, beans, and cherry tomatoes out of it. And it was a LOT easier and faster to weed out than our current setup!

 

Cool setup.

 

I have (3) 2' x 6' boxes, made out of treated lumber, fill with potting mix ,plenty of veggies,

 

I've read using treated lumber is bad for growing food because of the chemicals in the wood. It's better to use cedar.

 

I'm no chicken expert, but I believe sometimes if chickens don't have enough space, they will actually start killing one another or at least pecking at weaker ones. Somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe that's why the hen is rough looking, other hens were pecking at her. Just a guess and thought for others with chickens to think about.

 

I've read a few articles on it lately and it isn't an issue any more with the new treated lumber.

 

They need a longer run. A chicken tractor or movable coop is fine but make it longer.
with my hens you can tell which ones are sluts,the back of their heads have feathers plucked off from rooster getting busy.

 

Not as much of an issue

 

Yes

 

That Game Hen's a funny looking bird; like a "honey I shrunk the Ostrich" or something.

It is true that they'll do that if they're over crowded, but that coop looks like it's probably big enough for four birds to not cohabit in and not feel overcrowded, especially if you let them out now and then.

This is true. Older PT used Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) to treat the wood with. The arsenic would leach out of the wood and into your garden soil and be taken up by the plants. CCA was banned for residential uses in the US because if you got a splinter from it or were exposed to sawdust from it long term (like a construction worker who cuts it every day) you had higher risk of elevated levels of arsenic in your system.
The new treatments are either ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quat), ACQ-D (ACQ with an added water repellent), or MCQ (Micronized Copper Quaternary). These contain no arsenic and are deemed safe for a garden by the EPA. However, they're not certified for organic vegetable production because there is still leaching that occurs, of the copper that's used instead of arsenic. Not really a risk, because plants will only increase their uptake of copper if they're deficient in phosphorus, and if you're fertilizing your beds at all they won't be. Plus, excess copper will usually kill your plants before the levels get harmful to humans.
So, long story short, new PT is considered safe or a garden, but it doesn't qualify for organic gardening. If you want to use PT but are worried about chemicals, you can line the edges of the bed with plastic sheeting (obviously leave the bottom of the bed open or you'll have a pond). Or you can use regular lumber and treat it with linseed oil. Or you can use cedar (what I opted for) and not worry about treating it or chemical/metal leaching.

 

Ozymandias hath spoken. Just use cedar.